She is.....

...8 months old!

...the smiliest of babies

...occasionally serious, more often curious

...a ham, but a beautiful one!

....adored by her big brother!

...a papi baby

...an opportunistic sleeper

...a waver

...one of 5 Hiler grandchildren 2/13/10

(& not happy about having an ear infection)

...a lover of bath time with Jackson

2/7/10

...a pizza eater 2/13/10

...my Valentine!

...our joy!

Emerson turned 8 months old on Tuesday. She is growing so much lately, which I'm so glad since I was convinced after her 6 month appointment that her growth was stunted. She currently weighs almost 16 lbs and is 25 1/2 inches long. She is a wonderful eater of solids - she loves everything! Newest additions to her foods are pizza (see picture above), cranberries, Moo Goo Gai Pan and red bell peppers. I got some okra for her to try also. She can also easily pick up small foods with her thumb & forefinger, so she now eats about 100 puffs or yogurt melts a day. She loves the Gerber Wagon Wheels also. She still does not take a bottle well, although some days are better than others. Last week, she refused her bottle 2 days in a row, so her teacher's just mixed the milk in with her cereal. I have been watching for signs of dehydration and she has none of them - 5+ wet diapers a day, real tears, skin elasticity & fontanel are good, etc. Today, she has sucked down all her bottles (she drinks 3-4 6oz bottles a day) with minimal fussing. She loves her bed & really won't sleep for very long anywhere else. As I stated earlier though, she is an opportunistic sleeper & will take short cat naps anywhere, but takes the good 1.5-3 hour naps only in her bed. At school, she will only sleep in the swing. Her new tricks: waving hi/bye, says Mama when she cries but won't any other time, and she watches our mouths closely & tries to mimic it's movement (not the sound, just the movement). She is very curious, constantly grabbing at things. I just now had to take my earrings out because she was fascinated with them. No signs of crawling yet, but Jackson was a late crawler too. Same with teeth. Emme is the sweetest, most easy going baby & I thank God everyday that He sent her to us!

Emme's Sick

Emme has her first - and second - ear infections and pus on her tonsils. Her school called me on Thursday saying she had 101.5 temperature. So I went to get her and took her to see Dr. P. By the time we got there & back in a room it had been 1 hour since they had called and her temperature was up to 103.3! Now, I can handle anything up to 102, but after that I start freaking! Our doc says not to fight it, in fact he would only worry once it hit 107. What??? That is plain nuts! I am treating the fever anyway, but really only in conjunction with irritability like the Dr said. She definitely doesn't feel good. She just wants to be held and of course, I'm obliging! Sick babies need their mommies!

Oh, and she now weighs 15 lbs 14 oz and is 25.5 inches tall. She's growing after all!

Funny boy!

Yesterday, Jackson came into the bathroom while I was taking a bath. He looked at me while I was shaving my legs and said "Mommy getting haircut on legs." :)

My Boogie Babies is 26 Months Old!

Jackson turned 26 months old last week. He is such a little man now. We can't believe how fast our baby is growing up! His vocabulary is through the roof and he amazes us each day with the things he says. I can carry on full conversations with him - I love that! Yesterday he was telling me all about the policeman that came to visit his school for Local Heroes Week. He told me about the car with lights and the policeman's hat. Then he said he had tay-tine dog too. I said "What about a dog?" He repeated tay-tine, so I asked his teacher and she said the police had brought their canine. Oooohhhh! I asked him what color the dog was. Black. Wow Jackson, a black dog? Wif lello teef! A black dog with yellow teeth? Yep! Then today it was raining when I picked him up and he commented on the rain in the sky. I said yes, the rain is coming from the sky. No, Mommy. From Clouds. Now how in the world did he know that? He also says the sweetest prayers at night. Usually going through a long list of people to thank Jesus for, but occasionally when he is really tired he select just a few and then quickly say Amen. He's awesome! He has the best little personality and best of all he is absolutely, 100% completely, head over heels in love with his little sister! He can be the grouchiest gus you've ever seen in the mornings, but when Aaron brings Emme in to his bedroom, his whole demeanor changes and he laughs and hugs her. It sends chills up my spine & warms my heart all at once til I just want to burst! I haven't measured the little booger lately, but I need to. His pants seem to be getting shorter & shorter, so he must be growing. It must be all that broccoli he LOVES to eat - the boy could eat his weight in broccoli! Oh and he's still a heavy drinker - of milk, that is!

Jackson Dean, Mommy & Daddy love you more than you'll ever know. We thank God every day that he sent you to us!

Ooohh - very serious!

I *heart* these two!

Safety first for my little construction worker!

Yaya's Birthday Weekend

My mom turned 50 on the 28th! I had planned a big party and she was on board - well, she was wishy washy at best, but had agreed until she finally just said she would rather not have a party & really just wanted the whole family to go out for a nice dinner and just spend time together. Of course we agreed and it turned out lovely! The festivities started on Wednesday (her actual birthday). Her office threw a big party and I had conspired with them & gave pictures of her when she was younger. I thought they were making some sort of slideshow or something and they did, but that wasn't all. They took the picture of her when she was Miss Yoakum County (that's right, my mom was a beauty queen - ha!) and plastered it all over the central administration building. It was even on our superintendent's private door! It was hanging from the ceiling, on the bathroom stalls, on every exterior door to the building and it said "The Princess is 50!" It was a sight to behold! They did a sweet little slideshow too with a script that was adorable! Fun times! Then at home, my dad had been up to his own sort of mischief:

Black crape paper & a gagillion balloons all over the bedroom!
It was really cute!

Then Saturday, Brennan & Megan came into town and we had a nice lunch and just hung out until it was time for dinner. We went to Fogo de Chao - words cannot express how much I LOVE this restaurant! The food is phenomenal and Jackson & Emme were so well behaved that it was a wonderful dining experience! Fogo de Choa is a Brazilian Steakhouse - a meat haven with a fabulous salad bar too. Jackson loved every second of it, especially the fried bananas and later the Tres Leche cake.

Aaron being served the house special


The Birthday Girl & Jackson

The Birthday Girl & Miss Emme Kate

Her birthday cake

The whole crew:
Dad, Emme, Mom, Jackson, Me, Aaron, Megan (hidden by Clay's head), Brennan, my uncle Clay and Nana


I hope Yaya had as much fun as the rest of us! Happy 5oth, Momma! We love you!